Improved car-wheel



' H. w. MOORE.

Car Wheel.

Patenfed June 22, 1869.

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HIRAM W; Moons; or JERSEY CITY, NEWJERSEY.

Letters Patent No. 91,7 62, dated June 22, 1869.

IMPRO-VED CAR-WHEEL.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HIRAM .W. Moons, of Jersey City, county of Hudson, and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Car- Wheels, whereby the hammering or metallic noise of the wheel, when in motion, is very greatly diminished, and the wheel is thereby eminently adapted to the carrying of sleeping-cars, or coaches, where passengers prefer quietness or silence to the ordinary hammering noise produced by the wheels" now in common use; and I do hereby declarethe following to be a-suificieutly clear and exact description of the same, that any one skilled in such matters may, in connection withthe accompanying drawings, and letters of referencethereon, make. and use the same.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my wheel.

Figure 2,, a sectional view through the centre.

Like letters refer to like parts in both views.

A is the hub of the wheel, through which the axle is fitted in the ordinary manner.

B B is a rim, surroundingisaid hub and attached to it, either by spokes, as shown in fig. 1, or by a web or disk of metal, in any desired form to suit the various conditions required.

Said rim has a dovetailed groove formed upon its outer face, as shown at B B, fig. 2, the bottom of which isparallel to the face of the rim, and both are parallel to the axle, or at a right angle to the plane of the wheel. V

Said groove also extends nearly across the face of said rim, only allowing. a suflicient amount of metal on each side to form a rib or edge to said groove, of about equal strength in its radial and horizontal dimensions; that is,.the base of said rib is about equal to its depth. 7

This groove may be formed, either in the process of casting, or it may be turned out in a lathe, or it may be cast in nearly the-shape required,. and then finished in the lathe; but I have found, that with proper care, the groove can be made sufficiently accurate by the process of casting alone.

At convenient distances upon said rim, openings, as at r, fig. 1, are formed in one of the ribs, which form the edge of said groove, and these openings are of the exact depth of the groove, and of such a width that blocks of wood, of any desirable width, may be conveniently inserted through said openings.

These blocks are formed of some hard wood, such as maple, beech, elm,-or oak, thoroughly seasoned, and so saturated with some substance as to be impervious to moisture, and to prevent any liability to expansion or shrinkage.

.A dovetail is formed on one side of said blocks, that will exactly fit into the groove in the rim B B, and the edges of the blocks are so bevelled as to conform to the radii of the wheel, and the bottom side, or that upon which the dovetail is formed, is, so curved as to correspond with the perimeter of the wheel, and also the bottom of the groove.-

The blocks, being. thus prepared, are inserted through the opening 'r, or openings, if more than one are required, and the dovetail-portion is fitted into the groove, and the blocks are forced-around from said opening or openings, until they meet at some point between said opening or openings, or until the entire circumference of the rim B B is covered with wood.

The last block that is inserted at 'r is dressed slightly tapering, to serve as a key for forcing the other blocks closely against each other, and also for holding them firmly in said groove.

In this condition, the wheel is mounted in a lathe, and the wood is turned ofi to correspond to the sides of the rim B B, but the circumference is made slightly conical or tapering, so that the outer rim 0 0, upon which the flange and chilled tread are formed, being turned on the inside of a corresponding taper, shall be drawn tightly upon the wood by screw-bolts, as at t t t, or by being pressedtogether bysome mechanical power, shall he held in working-position by said bolts.

In such a manner, I am able to form a complete wheel for cars, said wheel having a space between the tread and hub, in which there is no metallic contact except the. small bolts t t t, that serve to hold the two rims together, and the eli'ect of such a construction is to render the wheel comparatively noiseless, and is, therefore, most admirably adapted to the carrying of sleeping-cars or coaches.

I am aware that wood has been inserted before between the tread and hub of wheels, by being driven in as wedges or keys, and depending upon the friction of their sides to hold them in place; but I believe that such a process cannot be used unless the tires are made of wrought-metal, such as iron or steel.

What Ielaim, therefore, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In combination with a car-wheel, with wood interposed between its web and rim, the dovetailed groove in the perimeter of the web, filled with solid dovetailed sect-ions of wood, through an opening in the side of the groove, and keyed and bound therein, substantially as herein described and represented.

HIRAM W. MO ORE.

Witnesses Bom) ELIOT, B. MGANALLY. 

